Los Angeles, Jul 20 (IANS): Legendary actor-director Clint Eastwood's partner, Christina Sandera, has passed away at the age of 61.

Christina was the companion of the 94-year-old actor for the past 10 years, reports Mirror.co.uk.

Clint paid tribute to her in a statement, saying, "Christina was a lovely, caring woman, and I will miss her very much.”

A Warner Brothers spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that no further information will be released.

The private couple began dating shortly after Clint divorced his second wife, Dina, following almost 20 years of marriage.

According to Mirror.co.uk, Christina and Clint kept their relationship away from the spotlight. They reportedly first met when she was working as a hostess at his Mission Ranch Hotel and Restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

They started dating in 2014. Although the couple remained very private, Christina supported Clint at several premieres and awards shows. She made her red carpet debut with him at the Oscars in 2015, when his movie 'American Sniper' was up for six gongs.

Clint is a father to eight children by six different women.

His first marriage was to manufacturing secretary-turned-fitness instructor Maggie Neville Johnson in 1953. While they were together, they had an "open relationship."

The affair resulted in his daughter, Laurie, being born. However, the mother put her up for adoption without Clint's knowledge. It wasn't until much later that he discovered she had been adopted by a couple in Seattle.

An insider close to Clint told MailOnline in 2018: "This all happened around 30 years ago. Laurie had been really interested in finding out who her real parents were and hired someone to help her. When they found the paperwork, her biological mother had written down Clint Eastwood's name.”